Family Vacation Inspires New Chapter At Hot Spot Fort Worth

Lisa Putnam wasn’t searching for a business idea when her family visited a pottery painting studio during a vacation in Port Aransas, Texas. She had recently left a 20-year career and was enjoying time with her children and grandchildren. One of her kids suggested an afternoon painting pottery…an activity Lisa never tried before.

“I’ve never painted pottery ever in my life. Never been to a pottery studio,” she recalled. While the vast selection of pottery surprised her, what stuck in her mind was the time spent around the table. Her daughters and granddaughters picked their pieces, music played, and the family painted and sang together.

“This is the most relaxing, joyful thing I’ve done in so long,” Lisa remembered. Nobody was rushing to finish a task or answer an email. They were simply enjoying each other’s company. Before the painting experience was over, her children were joking that they needed a pottery studio of their own. Lisa agreed.

Nearly a year later, Lisa opened The Hot Spot Studios in North Fort Worth, Texas, along with her husband Phillip; an essential partner in the business. Their studio now gives other families a place to gather around a table, choose a project, and enjoy their own unique family experiences.

A Change in Priorities

Lisa’s professional life had been built around customer service long before she considered franchise ownership. In 2005, she joined a national supplier of plumbing fixtures, appliances, lighting, and hardware. She started at the front desk, moved into inside sales, and eventually earned a top sales position in the showroom, serving builders, designers, and homeowners alike as they shopped for quality products to improve their work and living spaces.

“I started at the front desk and worked my way up,” she said. She spent two decades at the company, building a customer base and becoming someone local builders and designers knew they could depend on. “I never even actually thought of retirement,” she recalled. “I was like, I’ll just work here forever.”

She still speaks fondly of her customers. But she also remembers the hours. Working on commission, she often responded to emails at night, on weekends, and even on holidays. Being reliable meant making herself available, and after years of that schedule, while juggling an increasingly demanding life with family activities and commitments, she began asking whether she wanted the same demanding working arrangement to consume the remaining working years of her career.

With five children, including one still living at home, and grandchildren to enjoy, Lisa wanted more flexibility for family life. In May 2025, she left her career behind without a new business lined up. She was stepping away from a career she knew well without yet knowing what would replace it to give herself time to think about what she wanted to do next.

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Choosing What’s Next

After two successful decades, Lisa had the experience, professional relationships, and reputation to continue working in an industry she knew well. New opportunities quickly became available, including an attractive management position with a new employer, but she further questioned whether returning to the same demanding environment was what she wanted for her future.

The pottery painting experience during her family vacation had introduced an entirely different possibility. What began as a casual conversation around the painting table was becoming a serious business idea, and Lisa found herself researching pottery painting studios and pottery franchise opportunities while considering additional professional options.

Lisa then made the decision to become a business owner. She saw an opportunity to put her professional experience toward something she could build herself. “I’m gonna invest this in myself and in my family, and in my community,” Lisa said.

With that decision, she began exploring the available franchise concepts more seriously, looking for a business that offered the right combination of creative experiences, an established operating model, and a team she felt comfortable working with, and an opportunity to bring to her local community.

Discovering The Hot Spot Studios

The Hot Spot Studios was one of the first franchise concepts Lisa came across in her research. She considered other pottery-focused options, some of which initially appealed to her aesthetically. But the more she learned about The Hot Spot Studios, the more she appreciated that the activities extended beyond pottery painting.

“The thing that drew me to Hot Spot was the different activities,” she explained. Canvas painting, candle making, mosaics, and other creative projects gave her a way to imagine serving customers with different interests, including families looking for repeat visits, birthday celebrations, and group outings.

Lisa connected with The Hot Spot Studios’ franchising team, and their conversations helped her evaluate the business model and the responsibilities involved in opening a location. During the initial discussions, Lisa wanted to experience an actual studio before making a decision. She and her daughter drove about three hours to Austin, spent the night, and visited another Hot Spot Studios location as ordinary customers. During the visit, Lisa made a mosaic while her daughter chose a garden-themed project.

“It was very organized and clean. Very relaxing. The staff was helpful,” she recalled. The visit showed her how a studio operated from the customer’s side, from selecting a project to receiving assistance. It also gave her another enjoyable afternoon with her daughter, reinforcing her interest in the creative experience itself.

“Ultimately what I wanted to create here, with the help of the Hot Spot Studios and their model and their team, is just a really fun place for families to go and relax and not worry about the stresses of the day,” she explained. With that goal established, she turned to finding a home for her new business, and it was going to be a Hot Spot Studio.

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Opening In North Fort Worth

Lisa already pictured her studio in a shopping center along Sage Meadow Trail. She had shopped across the street, knew of a great vacant space, and liked the traffic generated by nearby retailers, restaurants, and entertainment businesses.

“When I envisioned my own Hot Spot, I envisioned this location,” she said. “I used to shop across the street, and it’s a very high traffic area.” Lisa’s studio opened last May. Shortly thereafter, guests began arriving, discovering the activities and spreading the word. 

Lisa’s husband Phillip became more deeply involved as the business got underway. He welcomes guests, helps them with projects, works with the kiln and glazing process, and packages finished pottery. Lisa handles purchasing, supplies, inventory, and much of the birthday-party coordination. Their children help when needed, too.

“I don’t know what I would do without him,” Lisa said of Phillip. “This is a complete partnership with us.” The couple even moved closer to the studio, cutting down a commute complicated by heavy Fort Worth traffic and giving them more flexibility around family schedules.

“When you’re a new business owner and you’ve never owned a business before, you think you have to know it all and do it all at the same time, and it’s very overwhelming,” she said. Learning the business through franchise training, however, helped to understand both the creative processes and the everyday rhythm of running a studio, helping customers, preparing materials, managing parties, and keeping the operation organized.

Rather than trying to master every topic at once, Lisa began focusing on what needed her attention that day and returning to notes or training resources as new situations arose. Regular franchise support and franchise network meetings gave her exposure to more ideas than she could immediately apply, but also provided information she could revisit as the business developed.

She has appreciated having someone to call when a question or frustration becomes difficult to sort out alone. Other Hot Spot Studio owners have also become helpful resources. She appreciated opportunities for owners to exchange ideas. “Although this is a franchise, this is my business. I feel like we are a team overall,” she explained.

Families Feel at Home

As guests began returning, Lisa noticed how often they commented on the feeling of the space. They enjoyed the projects, but they also talked about being comfortable there. “The word ‘homey’ gets brought up a lot. The word ‘comfortable,'” she said. “It’s very relaxed.”

Birthday parties became an important way new customers discovered the studio. Children arrived with friends, parents watched them create projects, and some families returned to book celebrations of their own. Lisa described one weekend with five birthday parties and another celebration with nearly 20 participants which at first felt demanding, but the response gave her encouragement.

During one busy party, while Lisa was helping guests make candles, she overheard parents praising the activity. “This is such a great idea!” was one of the reactions they reported. Those experiences helped demonstrate how a studio visit could introduce the concept to several families at once.

Grandparents paint alongside grandchildren, parents join their children at the table, and groups settle into projects together. Lisa has noticed that phones may come out briefly for design inspiration, but customers generally turn their attention to whatever they are creating.

“I love when an entire family comes in, like a lot of grandparents and grandkids,” she said. Those are the visits that most clearly reflect the kind of experience she hoped to offer when she opened her doors.

Related Article: Creative Franchise Opportunities

The Fort Worth Community

Community outreach started before Lisa opened her finished studio. She attended some local craft fairs, distributed flyers, and offered prepackaged pottery and slime activities. She even arranged a candle-making birthday party ahead of her official opening. Those early efforts introduced the name to local residents, even while pending lease and construction details remained unsettled.

After opening, Lisa and Phillip began developing connections with organizations and neighboring businesses. One collaboration came through from a nearby Nothing Bundt Cakes. Their general manager expressed interest in creative team-building, and the businesses arranged an exchange where the bakery provided treats for the grand opening ,and Lisa hosted a creative experience for their employees. Some of whom have since become regulars in the studio.

Growing The Business

Lisa has several priorities for the studio’s next stage. She is working on developing more special events, including themed evenings and creative experiences that give returning customers something different to try.

Although she’s focused on making the North Fort Worth location stronger, Lisa is thinking beyond a single studio. “I want to open another location after this eventually,” she said. It’s an ambition she’s holding alongside the practical work of staffing, promoting, and operating the business she has today.

One change is already tangible. Her family is involved in a way that wasn’t possible in her previous career. Phillip is a true operating partner, and their children lend a hand when necessary. “The whole family will come. You know, if I need help, they come in and they help me,” Lisa said. “It’s something we can do together.”

Lisa remains ambitious about her business. She wants customers to return, events to grow, and the studio to become a familiar North Fort Worth destination. “To me, it’s your family and your relationships, and peace of mind,” she explained. “I think this place brings a sense of peace and relaxation. Doing something with your hands and not looking at your phone.”

That is the experience Lisa first noticed on vacation with her own family. Today, she gets to see other people find it for themselves, one pottery piece, candle, mosaic, or painting at a time.

Lisa’s journey shows how an established professional background can lead to an entirely different kind of business ownership. Her years in customer service and sales gave her skills to draw on, while the franchise’s training, operating model, and network helped her enter a creative industry she hadn’t previously worked in.

The Hot Spot Studios offers franchise opportunities for people interested in bringing pottery painting, candle making, canvas painting, mosaics, and other hands-on activities to their communities. Aspiring owners can learn about the concept, investment requirements, training, and franchise discovery process by contacting the franchising team.